5. The spleen
At first, the spleen is really important before the baby is born. This organ produces blood and defensive cells in fetuses that are developing. But once the baby is born, the function of the spleen changes. It will start to store blood platelets, produce antibodies, and also destroy the abnormal cells in the blood.
As you can see, there is a lot of blood passing through the spleen. This can be fatal if someone gets injured in an accident because it can cause internal bleeding. It is sometimes preferable for a person to have their spleen removed fully before it ruptures and causes internal bleeding.
Even if the risk of some specific infection is increased if you no longer have a spleen, this is still one of the organs you can live without. There is no need to replace it.
5 Responses
I have Graves’ disease and I take Levothyroxine daily for hypothyroidism. My left eye protrudes, but my right eye does not. I was treated with iodine for hyperthyroidism and was overdosed that killed my thyroid, as it was explained to me over 30 years ago. I’m recently learning about TED, as seen on TV and reading about it here and watching the video. I have not spoken with my Ophthalmologists about it. My annual eye appointment is scheduled in another five months. I would like to begin taking the drug but, I’m unclear how it would affect my right eye since it does not protrude. I really appreciate the information you have shared and, I thank you very much.
This was a very interesting article. You named only 6 organs that humans can live without, I thought of an additional 6! Here is my list….. Tonsils, adenoids, prostate, uterus, ovaries, appendix.
you can also live w/o a pancreas, as one can take meds to replace the functional needs.
I don’t recall seeing the appendix being mentioned. The latter is also something we could live without. And even though females require their reproductive organs (uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes) to make babies, they can still live without having them. Also, we could live without part of our liver, as our livers regenerate.
tonsils, adenoids, uterus, and ovaries are several other ones